8 Ways to Tell the Difference Between Shawn Mendes + Charlie Puth

If you pay a modicum of attention to pop culture, you've probably heard, at least tangentially, about Shawn Mendes and Charlie Puth. Mendes is the internet star turned teen heartthrob behind 2010-era chart hits like "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" and "Treat You Better," while Puth is the wild-haired pop whiz responsible for radio staples like "Attention" and "How Long."

Let me preface this by saying there are some discernible, if marginal, differences between the two: Mendes leans more toward starry-eyed, guitar-charged crowd-pleasers, while Puth, at least as of late, has been embracing '80s funk meets R&B-style soft rock. And yet, it somehow feels impossibly difficult to tell them apart.

Both are two affluent, pretty inoffensive white dudes. Both cropped up on the music radar around the same time (Mendes with Handwritten in April 2015, Puth with Nine Track Mind roughly eight months later). And both have released new albums within the last two weeks, each with one gun control-inspired song (Mendes with "Youth," Puth with "Change") and one about the anxieties of newfound fame (Mendes' "In My Blood," Puth's "The Way I Am") that peel back to reveal their more "honest," "authentic" selves. They may not be the same person, but they are almost certainly following the same career trajectories.

So if you, like much of the greater American public, are having trouble keeping track of which one is which, read on for a few tips on telling these two incredibly similar artists apart.

1

Shawn Mendes Looks Like He Showers

Mendes usually shows up to events coiffed and in ironed clothing; Puth sometimes looks like he rolled out of bed after stopping at Goodwill.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

2

Charlie Puth Has That Eyebrow Thing

The surefire way to tell apart two white dudes: Look at their eyebrows!! (For the record, it's not by choice: Puth was attacked by a dog when he was two, and has had a scar on his right brow ever since).

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3

Charlie Puth Is Allegedly a Grown Man

Despite that Puth announces he wants lunch by saying "I'm hungies," he is, in fact, 26 years old. Mendes is only 19.

4

The Things Shawn Mendes Says Don't Make You Want to Scream Into the Void

Speaking of "I'm hungies," the things that come out of Mendes' mouth hit around the marginally more tolerable "Wow! What a sick vibe!"

CBS via youtube.com

5

Charlie Puth's Face Is Rounder, Maybe?

We're really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

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6

And He's Recently Discovered Hair Straighteners

Mendes is still opting for a little bit more wave in his locks.

Nathan Congleton, NBC via Getty Images

7

Puth's Music Is Inspired By Sentences, Apparently

“I speak about broad topics,” Puth recently toldVulture of Voicenotes. “I’m not really reinventing the wheel lyrically. I have, You just want attention, How long has this been going on, What have you done for me, That’s just the way I am — these are sentences that people say."